


Something to Get Used To

by A_Reptile_Dysfunction



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, They're kids!, this should be fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:55:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25539904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Reptile_Dysfunction/pseuds/A_Reptile_Dysfunction
Summary: Claire's the new kid in town...
Comments: 15
Kudos: 53





	1. First Day Jitters

**Author's Note:**

> I hadn't seen anything like this yet (please correct me if there is something similar!) Please be gentle as this is my first story in 10+ years... As always, all characters (unless otherwise specified) belong to Diana Gabaldon.

** Chapter One – First Day Jitters **

_Jamie POV_

Jamie sat in the back of arithmetic bored out of his skull. It was the first day back from Hogmanay break and it felt like he’d been back for a whole month rather than the two hours it had actually been. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the subject matter; au contraire, he loved mathematics. Back in Kindergarten, where most of the kids in his class could only count to twenty, Jamie prided himself on being the first in class to count to one hundred.

Math was easy. His Da always commented on how bright his youngest son was when it came to numbers. It made Jamie feel proud and he couldn’t help the blush that accompanied the small smile that came to his face each time.

In fact, the only class Jamie did not excel in was music. Music was the class where Jamie would sit in the back and mouth the words to whatever song they were singing. He could not carry a tune to save his life. If he had to sing for his supper, he would starve!

Jamie’s boredom was abated when Headmaster Gowan walked into class with a pale, dark haired, and seemingly nervous girl in tow. Her eyes were downcast; as if to count the pastel polka dots on her white dress. He could barely even see her face because her wild, curly hair was falling cascading downwards as she looked down. Her knuckles were ghostly white as she clutched her schoolbooks for dear life.

“Good morning, students,” Headmaster Gowan began.

“Good morning, Headmaster Gowan!” the class said unanimously in monotone. Gowan ignored the verbal eye rolling and proceeded to the task at hand.

“We have a new student joining us today,” his voice was clear and authoritative but held a hint of mirth, “please join me in welcoming Miss Claire Beauchamp. She comes to us all the way from Oxfordshire!”

“Hello, Claire…” the class droned. If it was possible, Claire’s head hung even lower as she was guided to an open desk shared with Laoghaire Mackenzie.

Jamie shared his desk with Geneva Dunsany and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he heard her sniggering. He caught a glance between Laoghaire and Geneva. 

‘That canna be good,’ he thought. 

Though she was a Sassenach herself, Geneva’s family was rich enough where the other kids didn’t pick on her. Geneva quickly became the most popular girl in school. She had immediately adopted Laoghaire as her pet minion and Laoghaire hung onto every word Geneva said. Jamie personally thought she was a spoiled brat.

Life was complicated at 7 years old.

Lunch time rolled around and Jamie sat at his usual table with his best friend Ian, as well as his other friends Rupert, Angus, and Willie. He caught Claire entering the cafeteria with her brown bagged lunch clutched between her hands so hard that Jamie wondered if her knuckles were ever a normal skin tone. He watched as she lifted her eyes just long enough to spot a seat alone in the corner. She slowly pulled her sandwich out of the cellophane and began to nibble.

“Wonder what her story is,” Jamie jumped as he heard Ian’s voice next to his ear.

“I dinna ken,” he mumbled as he tore his gaze away and bit into his own peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

A high-pitched chortle rang across the cafeteria. Jamie knew without turning his head that it was Geneva. Geneva had her own posse: Laoghaire Mackenzie, Mary McNab, and Isobel Dunsany (her sister). Isobel wasn’t so bad. She was just quiet and didn’t like to cause conflict. They always sat at the table next to him during lunch and they never made any efforts to mask their conversations.

“What’s up with her hair?” he heard Geneva say, “It looks like something nested in there and then died because it couldn’t get free.”

Jamie rolled his eyes.

“And that dress,” Laoghaire chimed in, “white with pastel polka dots? That’s so boring!”

“Leave her alone,” piped up Isobel.

“Oh, shut up, Izzy,” Geneva snapped.

“Yeah, shut up, Izzy!” parroted Laoghaire. Poor Isobel just looked down at her lunch and continued to pick at it.

Geneva rolled her eyes at Laoghaire, “Leelee, go over there and make nice,” she had a hint of malice in her voice which Laoghaire picked up on. She nodded, rose from her seat, and with a flip of her hair, walked over to where Claire was sitting.

“Jamie! JAMIE!”

“Huh?” Jamie shook his head and returned his attention to his friends all the while keeping Claire in his periphery.

“I was askin’ ye if you saw last night’s football match?” Angus always got a bit too enthusiastic about football.

“Aye, a braw match if I ever saw one,” was Jamie’s non-committal answer. He hadn’t watched it all the way through. Angus didn’t need to know that.

Jamie refocused his attention back on Claire who was now engaged in a seemingly one-sided conversation with Laoghaire. Just as it looked like Claire was about to begin participating, the recess bell rang, and all chaos erupted in the cafeteria as children sprang from their seats and dashed outside.

_Claire POV_

"Sproing!"

Claire yelped in surprise as her head was yanked backward. Whirling around to face her assailant, she was met with two faces: one chubby with long hair and one missing two front teeth who had a head that seemed too large for his scrawny body.

"Stop that!" she patted her hair down in a vain attempt to smooth her curls.

"OOOH," the toothless one raised his eyebrows and looked at the taller, chubbier boy, "We have a Sassy-nak!" Toothless began to bounce on his heels as he reached another hand out to grab a curl. 

Claire took a reflexive step back, "Beg your pardon, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"A Sassenach," Tubby finally spoke, "you're not from here. That makes you a Sassenach."

She looked helplessly between Tubby and Toothless, backing up as they advanced with outstretched hands intending to pull another curl.

"Stop that, ye clotheids!" a voice from behind her yelled. Before she could turn around to see who had said that, she heard the tell-tale thump of a body hitting pavement, "Ahh!" the voice cried out.

Claire turned towards the cry and saw a boy sitting on the ground beneath the monkey bars, clutching his knee. His red hair flopped over as his head bent down towards the injury. She ran over to him.

"Are you alright?" the boy remained silent save for the hissing of air between his teeth.

"Serves ye right fer playin' the hero again, Jamie!" Claire heard Toothless laughing behind her. Did he ever shut up?

"Shove it, ye wee mongrel," the boy's voice was strained and he lifted his head intending to look behind Claire but was seemingly frozen as he caught her concerned gaze. He shook his head as if to clear his mind and addressed Toothless, "away with ye, Angus, 'fore I tell yer mam you been lookin' up the skirts of Laoghaire and Geneva again!"

That did it. Toothless (no, Angus) and Tubby hung their heads and scampered away.

"Don't mind Rupert and Angus," Jamie looked back at Claire, "They may talk out of their arses, but their bark is way worse than their bite."

"Well, thank you, anyways," Claire extended her hand for Jamie to shake, "I'm Claire. I just moved here." Jamie looked at her hand and gave a lopsided grin.

"I'm Jamie," he said as he took her hand.

"That scrape doesn't look so bad. Does it hurt?" Claire pointed to his injured knee that was seeping blood through his torn jeans.

"Nay but a scratch," Jamie replied; still, he flexed his knee and bent it a few times.

Claire held out her hand to help him up. Jamie accepted her proffered hand and rose from the pavement just as the bell rang signaling the end of recess. Claire found herself eye-to-eye with the red-haired boy; a rarity because she was taller than most kids in her grade. Claire didn’t think she’d ever seen eyes so blue. They simultaneously broke eye contact and she noticed Jamie’s ears were tinged pink at the tips. He was comfortably dressed in his jeans, t-shirt under a long-sleeved plaid, and dusty Converse.

"Thank ye, Sassenach," Jamie shot her another lopsided grin, "truly!" and without another glance behind him, he ran back into the school. 

Claire stood for a second before shaking her curls to clear her head and taking a mental note to find out what 'Sassenach' really meant. It sounded different coming from Jamie than it did from Rupert and Angus. Shaking her head once more as she realized that she was nearly the last kid left on the playground, she began to run back to the building.

Life in Inverness was going to take some getting used to.


	2. Friends and Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie has an encounter after school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All characters (unless otherwise specified) belong to Diana Gabaldon.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left me notes and kudos! This must be what moral support feels like!! ^_^

** Chapter 2 - Friends and Enemies **

_Jamie POV_

Christ, her eyes were the most unique shade of amber he’d ever seen in his whole seven years of existence. There was something about her that made him want to protect her from anyone and anything. He felt a swell of pride blooming in his chest as he imagined such a scenario.

The rest of the school day passed in a blur and soon, Jamie found himself cutting through the park on the way to his godfather’s house with his older sister, Jenny, and his best friend, Ian. Ian always came home with them until his mother got out of work and picked him up.

Truth be told, Jamie could tell that Ian had a wee crush on his sister. Just the thought made his stomach flip flop.

“Ye okay, Jamie,” Ian nudged Jamie’s shoulder as they walked side by side behind Jenny, “ye seemed, I dinna ken, spaced out today at lunch.”

“Aye, I’m braw,” Jamie looked at Ian and smiled, “truly.”

“Ye sure? I saw you canna stop lookin’ at the new Sassenach girl,” Ian’s smile could be heard, “ye looked ready to pounce on wee Angus today at recess.”

“Angus is an arse and deserved to be taken down a peg or two,” Jamie mumbled and picked up his pace. Ian followed closely.

“Well, well, well,” a cold voice sounded from up in the tree the trio had been walking by, “if it isn’t wee Ginger Jamie and his wee puppy, Ian.” 

Jamie froze and Ian crashed into him. Jenny was too far ahead to notice the boys stopping. Not that she would have heard anything anyway with how loud she played her music. 

He heard the sound of feet hitting the grass with a muffled thump and began to turn around slowly. Jamie froze and took a deep breath as his fists curled at his sides. Ian took up residence on Jamie’s right hand side but was visibly nervous.

Jack sneered at the duo but focused his venom on Jamie. For some reason, Jamie seemed to be Jack’s primary target. Out of the corner of his eye, Jamie noticed Frank peeking from behind the same tree that Jack had jumped down from.

‘Coward,’ Jamie thought with a mental rolling of his eyes.

“What d’ye want, Randall?” Jamie’s voice had a slight but noticeable quiver to it. He noticed Ian glance quickly at him before squaring his shoulders at Jack.

“Come on, Jack,” Frank’s voice was nearly inaudible, “Mother is waiting for us…”

“Shut it, Frankie!” Jack snapped at his twin, “you’re such a weasley little kiss ass!” he sniggered as Frank’s shoulders slumped and he walked over to a nearby bench to wait.

“Anyway,” Jack’s eyes snapped back to Jamie’s, “I was bored so I thought I’d see if there were any gingers to beat on. Looks like I’ve hit the jackpot!”

Jamie narrowed his eyes but maintained his stance.

“I don’t want any trouble, Jack,” he started, “there’s still time for you to walk---” Jamie was cut short as he felt the wind knocked out of him.

“Cheap shot!” yelled Ian ready to strike. Jamie put his arm out to tell him to stay back.

“You gonna cry, Fraser?” Jack taunted as Jamie coughed and tried to regain his breath, “hey Frankie! Look! Baby Ginger is gonna cry!”

Jamie took advantage of Jack’s momentary distraction to lunge at him; effectively tackling him to the ground. Jack reflexively began to claw at Jamie but was unable to get out from under him. Somewhere behind them, the boys heard faint shouts in the distance, but they paid them no mind as they wrestled on the ground.

“Jamie!” Ian grabbed his arms and attempted to drag him off of Jack, “people are starin’! We gotta get outta here!”

Jamie stood above Jack and spat on the ground beside him before turning around, grabbing his backpack from the ground, and running to catch up with Jenny.

Jamie and Ian caught up to her as she was turning onto their street. She didn’t seem to even notice that they hadn’t been right behind her because she was so engrossed in her music. Jamie ran his hands through his hair to dislodge any debris from the fight and brushed them on his pants. A quick look from Ian told him that he got it all. The boys continued their pace down the street and paused at the front door of Jenny and Jamie’s house to catch their breaths.

“What is that guy’s problem?” Ian sat on the front stoop as Jamie paced back and forth.

“I dinna ken what that arsehole’s problem is,” Jamie paused to take a deep, calming breath, “but it’s becoming my problem and I dinna ken what I can do about it!”

“You comin' inside?” Ian put a tentative hand on Jamie’s shoulder as he stood up and began walking up the front steps.

“In a minute,” Jamie sighed, “I just need to sit here for a minute and calm down.”

“Okay then,” Ian seemed uncertain if he should leave Jamie alone, “I think Suzette made cookies. I can smell them, they’re still hot!”

“Aye, I smell ‘em too,” Jamie chuckled, “save me one. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Ian nodded and walked inside the house. Jamie closed his eyes and began to take deep breaths. In ‘one, two, three’ and out ‘four, five, six’.

“Hallo,” a familiar voice sounded like it was right in front of his face. Jamie started as his eyes snapped open and his fist reflexively clenched, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” he relaxed when he saw that it was Claire.

“Sassenach,” he grinned, “what brings you out to this neck of the woods?” he gestured to the row of houses that lined the street.

“I live over there,” she pointed to the house directly across the street from Jamie’s, “just moved in yesterday.” Claire was quiet and her eyes cast to the ground.

“Ah yes, from Oxfordshire,” Jamie attempted to mimic her Oxford accent as he smiled at her, “How’re ye liking Inverness?”

“It’s beautiful here,” Claire smiled back showing her missing two front teeth, “but once people hear me and Uncle Lamb talk, they usually are less than friendly.”

“Yeah,” Jamie rolled his eyes and shook his head, “people are no too fond of the English here. Scots have terribly long memories, ye ken.”

“Well, if it helps,” Claire glanced around and leaned in conspiratorially, “I’m not really from Oxfordshire.”

“How do ye mean?” Jamie tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her in genuine curiosity.

“Well, Oxfordshire is only the last place Uncle Lamb and I lived,” she explained, “my parents died in an accident when I was a baby and I was raised by my Uncle Lamb. He’s an archaeologist and instead of hiring a nanny to raise me in one place, he took me with him all over the world.”

“Sassenach! That’s amazing,” Jamie exclaimed, “no amazing that yer parents died, but that you’ve been so many places!”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah!” Jamie nodded enthusiastically, “Most people here havena even left Inverness.”

An awkward silence hung between them.

“So, Sassenach,” Jamie started as he scuffed his feet on the sidewalk, “have ye made any friends yet?”

“Well, I’d like to say you,” Claire looked to him for confirmation at which Jamie nodded, “and there was that one girl who came to speak to me at lunch, but I forget her name. Blonde hair, talks a lot…”

“Laoghaire.”

“Yes! Her! She seemed nice…” Claire trailed off.

“Careful around her,” Jamie advised, “she hangs around Geneva.”

“Who?”

“Geneva Dunsany,” Jamie explained, “is a Sassenach, like you, but her family is verra rich and she is verra snobby, so no one messes wi’ her.”

“So, Laoghaire is kind of like her minion?” Claire asked.

“Aye, whatever you say to Laoghaire will no stay between the twa o’ ye,” Jamie rolled his eyes, “just… be careful, is all, but it’s no my place to tell you who to be friends with.”

“Thank you, Jamie,” Claire’s smile was small but genuine, “I appreciate your honesty.”

“I’ll never lie to ye, Sassenach,” Jamie spoke somberly as he looked her in the eye, “I may have secrets - things I’m no ready to share, ye ken? But I’ll no lie to ye.”

Claire’s smile widened and she started a bit when a deep male voice called her name from behind.

“That’s my uncle, I have to go,” Claire said, “thank you for today, Jamie. I’m glad I have at least one friend here!” With that she spun on her heel causing her hair to tickle Jamie’s nose as she darted across the street.

“Bye, Sassenach…” Jamie whispered to her fleeting form. With a smile, he turned and dashed up the steps to his house, “You lot better have saved me some cookies!”


End file.
